Tucum Saves Christmas

Smokey and I had a low-key Christmas this year. We decided to revive a tradition from his childhood and we started out Christmas morning by singing happy birthday to Jesus and eating donuts.

While it's hard to top that kind of a start to the day, we actually had stockings this year and a fireplace to put them by, so a big improvement over last year.




One thing that hasn't changed: bearcat. She knows those boxes Mom sends are full of stuff for her. And Frog staked out the new bag of catnip approximately two seconds after I brought it home last week.

The other half of the box contents are for these beasts. They only get one new soft toy per year now because that's as often as I feel like throwing my money away and cleaning up after them. Percy is the queen of rip and tear.

This year, it was an armadillo. Look close because in less than 20 minutes Percy had an ear ripped off. Tatonka was content to just carry it around.

We now refer to the living room as the cat play room. Oh yeah, we got presents too. Smokey got ice climbing/mountaineering gear among other things. And I got running shoes and a jacket.
We took the dogs for a walk through the park after presents. And we got a Christmas miracle. An ice cleat Smokey lost last week was sitting on a post. Then the miracle was balanced out by the truck not starting when we decided to go see Sherlock Holmes. We couldn't even jump it. So we took the trusty Tucumcari out of winter storage and transfered the skis and went to town. Never again will I go see a movie on Christmas. It was sold out. And so was the next showing. So we bought tickets for the next available showing and went skiing. Then we stuffed ourselves with theater food.

Annual Haircut

Two days before Christmas I got my annual haircut and donated another bundle to Locks of Love. She didn't go quite as short as I thought she might and I think I like it. No more being trapped in bed because my cat is laying on my hair on my pillow.

Fun for Cheap

I don't know how it's possible, but it's past 9AM and I just realized it's still dark outside. And I need coffee. Coffee is a great gift when you've stayed up too late, like a silly school girl. Except I wasn't watching TV or doing homework or even talking on the phone. No, I decided that I had some 'extra' time and volunteered to help J-Bomb with a tiling project. She's in a major home renovation time crunch as she is departing the country shortly for a very cool job somewhere where healthcare is not such a big deal.

And a very entertaining evening it was. K-Bomb and one of his kittehs were the only ones to take notice of my arrival. Eventually, Smnt, J-Bomb's imported new squeeze, finished cutting tile in the garage and on his way to deliver said tile for installation he noticed K-Bomb's interest in the front door. See how handy it is to have a search dog in your life? They are very intuitive.

Though I came dressed to get dirty, I was designated the 'clean' person and my main duty was to keep kittehs and mournful looking doggies out of the workspace. I also proved to be handy at sweeping floors, adjusting lights, and eating cheesecake. Damn good cheesecake. Smnt's baking skills possibly rival my own. Very impressive.

While I planned to return home to finish an assignment due today, I found the tiling work so mesmerizing that I couldn't leave until it was done. Also, I think J-Bomb would not have appreciated the cheerleader leaving in the fourth quarter. The floor looks great and will be ready for grouting tonight. Too bad I've got class tonight. But I know who I'm going to call when I have a need to retile something.

Jimmy Carter 1946-2009

Son. Brother. Nephew. Cousin. Uncle. Serviceman. Husband. Father. Soutmaster. Teacher. Father-in-law. Grandfather. Christian.


I didn't know you nearly long enough, but in your passing I got to hear a lot of stories that confirmed all my initial impressions. I'm nowhere near the top of the list, but I'll miss you just the same. Thanks for helping to make Smokey the man he is today.

Tofurkey Day

Ah, Tofurkey Day, and I'm home again in the snow. But I don't think I'll be relaxing on the hammock since it snowed 8" while I was gone and another foot or so since then. At some point I just stop measuring and count it as 'a lot'.

One of the great things about consciously choosing to spend a holiday alone (despite many offers from friends, thank you) is that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. Limited of course, by money and what's in the fridge. In the case of the latter, I found it was not much, so I procurred supplies from the OPEN grocery store (thank you city living). I couldn't actually find a tofurkey like those I've had on this holiday in the past, so I just had all the side dishes. And I didn't once set off the smoke detector. And I ate my desert first. Yum. And then I joyfully shoveled the first layer of snow from the driveway, by hand, while playing fetch with the puppies. After a warm day or two I realized I should probably shovel the snow off the decks too, so I bought myself a nice new grain shovel. Isn't it pretty?

Today I get to figure out how to use the snowblower. Or I risk never actually getting Smokey's truck all the way up the driveway again. I think it might be easier to just fix the 4 wheel drive, but I guess the snowblower is free so I'll try that first.

Matanuska Ice

Saturday afternoon after a long day of dog training and studying at a coffee shop while waiting for Smokey's class to be over I got a phone call inviting me to visit the Matanuska glacier the next day. And since that sounded like a lot more fun than cleaning the house and studying, I said yes! It was a glorious sunny day.

Very sunny. Very important to have sunglasses on glaciers.

And why else would you visit a glacier but to climb the ice? I can't think of any reasons because it was certainly very cold and windy outside of the protected area we were climbing in.

Sometimes you fall off the ice though, that's when you are glad to have a harness and rope and an awesome solid anchor system at the top.

Just like anything else, you pick yourself up and keep going. I chose to grunt when swinging the axe after my fall. I think it helped.

One. Move. At. A. Time. The most entertaining part of the day was the young man in our party visiting from Spain. He had not only never been ice climbing, but had never been on a glacier, and never been in such cold weather (it was about 17 F).

Eventually the top appears and it is always a surprise. Much better than looking for hand and foot holds when rock climbing. Cold, but way more fun. Can't wait for next time. Sorry Mom.

And nothing beats the lighting on the glacier. Night falls early and quickly. But any day on the glacier beats every day in the office.

Moonrise to walk back over the rocks by.

Clearing Out The Cobwebs

We are firmly in the grip of Autumn here, some would say far past the normal start of winter, but I'm okay with that. This year Autumn has meant few bike rides and returning to school. This is the building I spend a fair amount of time in, trying to remember things I learned 10 years ago.

And one glorious view from campus. I can actually see this view most of the ride home. If my poor bike will ever speak to me again. I went for an awesome ride with J-Bomb a couple weeks ago and was mortified to discover that I literally had to clean the cobwebs off the handlebars. Very sad.

And as any front lawn of a higher education institution should be, mine is covered with goose poo.